HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

1. Human Settlements

2. Settlement
• Settlement - a permanent collection of buildings and inhabitants

3. Origins of Settlements
• Religious - graves, churches, temples
• Cultural - schools, libraries
• Political/Military - leader’s house, walls
• Economic - stores, food

4. Types of Settlements
• Rural Settlements - agriculture as the predominant
occupation.
• Urban settlements - principal industries are secondary and
tertiary.

5. I. Types and Organization
• Types
• Classification by size & function
Urban Cities
Conurbation (Megalopolis)
Towns
Rural
Villages
Hamlets
Isolated Farmhouse

7. Geographic Perspective of Settlements
• Geographers are interested in the patterns of settlements and the
interrelationship of settlements
• How do the patterns of settlements explain human culture?

8. II. Rural Settlements
• Significance
• Questions to be discussed
• Characteristics of Rural Settlements
~ rely on primary activities
~ intimate relation with the nature
~ less mobile
~ friendly
~ morphology

9. Historical Development
Economy: Primary → Secondary → Tertiary
Settlement: Rural Urban
Settlements Settlements
Intensive farming → larger villages
Extensive farming → smaller villages
Plentiful resources → larger
Scarce resources → smaller

10. Location, Distribution, Form
~ Location
* Water supply
* Dry land
* Shelter & outlook
* Commuting
* Trade & Transport
* Defense

11. Distribution
* Cluster Random Regular Cluster Linear

12. Rural Settlements
• Dispersed rural Settlements
• Isolated farms with enclosed continuous fields

13. Rural Settlements
• Clustered rural settlements
• Grouped settlements in rural areas to minimize travel

14. Pattern
* Agglomerated Dispersed
Intensive farming Extensive
Communal cultivation Individual
Crop cultivation Pastoral
Long history New
High density Low

15. Form
~ Village Form
* Cluster / Agglomerated
* Fragmented
* Linear
* Open space
* Double

17. Basic settlement forms